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Researching your own family tree is rewarding – and fun! No matter where in the world your family is from, we can help. Our members have been researching, preserving and publishing their own family histories and that of British Columbia, Canada’s families since 1971. In 2011, our Society celebrated its 40th anniversary.

Our collective experience and expertise can point you to the best and newest resources on-line and off (not everything is on the Internet) and help you to organize and preserve your family history research, to navigate through confusing documents or contradictory evidence found, and to share your family tree and family stories with others.

The British Columbia Genealogical Society (BCGS) has been on the World Wide Web since 1996. There’ll always be something new for you here on this website. BCGS Members also have access to a Members’ Only Area.

We welcome new members and visitors and invite you to see what we offer free on-line and at our BCGS Walter Draycott Library in Surrey, BC and at our year round monthly meetings, the second Wednesday of every month at 7:30 pm in the Downstairs Hall at the Danish Lutheran Church, 6010 Kincaid St., Burnaby, BC.

Visit our Research, Walter Draycott LibraryandMembership sections to see the free resources available to you here which include advice for beginners, free family tree charts, worldwide research links and guides for British Columbia and Canadian genealogy and family history research too.

The Government of British Columbia has invited citizens to collaborate on the preparation of a letter to mark the 150th Anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s death. “The letter will be paired with a previous letter of condolences sent by the Governor and Legislature of the Colony of Vancouver Island to the United States in 1865 following President Lincoln’s assassination.”

“Comments and stories from British Columbians, especially those whose heritage is connected to Lincoln and the legacy he created” are welcome. The submission deadline date is February 28, 2015. See more details and comment on the new website: Abraham Lincoln – His Legacy in British Columbia

A number of sessions from the Rootstech conference in Salt Lake City will be streamed live starting Thursday morning, February 12th and continuing till Saturday, February 14th. Here is the 2015 Rootstech streaming schedule.

Vancouver’s CelticFest is getting closer. We’re looking for many more BCGS members to join our St. Patrick’s Day marching group on Sunday morning, March 15th in downtown Vancouver. We’ll be wearing the green, shiny shamrocks and lots of plaid.

This year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade will follow the same route as in 2014, beginning on Howe and Davie Streets, proceeding north along Howe to Georgia, and ending at Georgia & Granville Streets. It’s a very easy walkable route. Here’s the CelticFest Parade Map. And we lunch afterwards together with our good friends from the United Empire Loyalists of Canada. Contact M. Diane Rogers to join our parade group.

Some 200,000 people are expected to be right there watching the parade this year. There’s lots of free entertainment both Saturday and Sunday and many other events and activities. See the CelticFest Vancouver website for details.